1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method and system which can manage user login/logout status information which is independently managed by a service server, via a plurality of location servers which belong to a plurality of groups.
2. Background Art
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a network connection of user terminals accessing a plurality of service servers according to a conventional art.
The conventional art provides a plurality of online game services, such as a GOSTOP game, a Hula game, a poker game, a chess game, and the like, via a game site called ‘hangame’. In FIG. 1, a user who uses any one of user personal computers (PC) 101 and 102 accesses to any one of game servers 104, 105, and 106 via the Internet 103. The game servers 104, 105, and 106 provide an online game that the user desires to play. As an example, the game servers 104 and 105 may provide a GOSTOP game service, and the game server 106 may provide a Hula game service. In this case, the user's login/logout was respectively performed in each of the game servers 104, 105, and 106. Also, the user's login/logout status information was respectively maintained in each of the game servers 104, 105, and 106. Accordingly, in the conventional art, a user who has logged in one game server was not able to know a current status of another user who has logged in another game server. Here, the current status may include, for example, information about whether another user has logged in or logged out from the game server, or a game that the another user is playing.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a network connection of service servers and a location server for managing users' location information according to the conventional art.
To solve the disadvantage of the configuration as shown in FIG. 1, a location server which can intensively manage users' login/logout status information in all of the game servers 204, 205, and 206 is suggested. Specifically, when users using user PCs 201 and 202 access the game servers 204, 205, 206 providing online games that the users desire to play, via the Internet 203, the game servers 204, 205, and 206 transmit the users' login/logout status information to the location server 207. In this case, since the location server 207 intensively manages the users' login/logout status information, the location server 207 may also provide another user with a current status of the users who have logged in the game servers 204, 205, and 206.
However, online games, which are provided by the conventional art, are being provided by hundreds of game servers. Accordingly, when a single location server manages login/logout status information which are managed in each of the game servers, system loads with respect to the location server are significantly increased.
When NHN Corporation launches their business in China or the like, to provide the online games, users who use the online games may geometrically increase. Even in this case, when managing all the users' login/logout status information in a single location server, the login/logout status information may be not appropriately processed due to system overloads. Also, when the users' login/logout status information is not appropriately processed, serious problems such as hacking, leaking of user information, and the like may occur.
Also, when a user's login/logout status information is managed in a single location server, and the single location server does not properly operate, the user's log information may not be updated and managed. Accordingly, the user may not utilize a service server.
Accordingly, a method and system for managing log information, which can manage a user's log information via a plurality of location servers belonging to a plurality of location server groups to solve system loads that occurs in a conventional location server, and can intensively manage the user's information by the plurality of location servers of an identical location server group maintaining identical data and status via replication, and also can normally manage the user's log information even when one of the plurality of location servers does not properly operate is required.